Nicole Begley (00:00)
Today's episode is a Heather takeover and she's diving into something that every photographer has battled, competition, especially when you're scrolling Instagram and you instantly feel behind. If you've ever felt that, or if you're ever going to, spoiler alert, you will, this one's gonna hit home, so stay tuned.

Nicole Begley (00:17)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Nicole Begley (01:16)
Today's episode is pulled from an elevate strategy call where we tackled something that comes up a lot. The fear of competition. You know the feeling you're scrolling through Instagram and it seems like everyone else is fully booked, raising their prices and thriving.

while you're spinning your wheels and wondering, what am I doing wrong? We're going to talk about what's really going on when your brain reacts this way and how to shift your thoughts so that you can step out of comparison and back into service energy. Let's dive in. I was talking to a friend last week about this, a very good friend. Let's say you're a photographer and you're on Instagram.

and you see other photographers in your area posting and sharing. And it looks like they're very successful. You know, they're getting a lot of clients. It looks like they're making a lot of money. We don't know, but it just looks like they're having fun and everything is perfect. And every time you turn around, there's more of them, right? More and more of them popping up and you see them and it starts to really get to you. And when her and I were talking about this, I was like, listen, I

vividly remember thinking and feeling this way when more and more wedding photographers started to pop up in Pittsburgh. I was like, where are they actually coming from? There are so many of them and getting this feeling of, well, it was definitely a negative emotion. I wouldn't call it jealousy. was, don't know. What do you feel when you see a lot of photographers in your area?

They seem to be doing well. there's like, yes, the envy of that. I, why does it seem like it's working for them and not me? There's that. I also just had this like general negative yuck motion of I didn't like having competition was what it came down to. Yeah. Insecurity. How do they stay in business at their prices? How can I compete? my gosh, Amber, perfect word. Be fuddled. Be fuddled. How are they doing it? Anger.

Aubrey, I'm with you. feel like, let's sigh. Like what is happening? It's just not a good feeling. Am I right? Like for the most part. And in these parts, we try to manage our emotions. So sometimes we try to not look, but when we do accidentally see it, those emotions still come up. So do we want to, you know, work on our thoughts, our emotions? Do we want to avoid ⁓ it? I don't know what that looks like, but on my notes,

I would in my notes, I have them in front of me. I was writing down a series of thoughts, like you see it and one of the thoughts is they're successful and I'm not. They are taking my clients, they are taking all of the clients, especially when people should be hiring me. I'm doing something wrong. They're doing something right. You know, what I'm doing is not working. What they're doing is working.

How can I compete?

What are some more of yours? I mean, we covered some of what you said in the chat and then my notes, you know, they're not successful. They're successful. I'm not. And I said, OK, what would it look like or what does your brain tell you would happen if they weren't there? If you didn't have any competition, no strike that from the record, if you didn't have as much competition.

What does your brain tell you would happen? And I'd love to hear in the chat. I have my brain. I have her brain.

I know what I think or what I thought when I saw all of those wedding photographers.

mostly concerned or annoyed about the clients that go to them. I now, tried not to look, sorry, I try not to look at them as they're not my clients. I try now to look at them as they're not my clients, sorry.

If there was no competition, every person who wants photos would automatically come to me. That was mine. Amy, that was mine.

I would have less objections when talking to potential clients.

Yeah, would just, would essentially, my thought was if there weren't as many, if there wasn't as much competition, they'd have to come to me. And if they had to come to me, my life would be easier. Everything would be so much easier because I wouldn't have to try to figure out how to work differently or market differently or speak to them or overcome objections. It would just be easier. My life would be easier.

That was my high level one. And then it's like, if my life were easier, then I would get all of the clients. I wouldn't be like stressed all the time about getting clients. And I would probably have higher revenue, which means I would be rich. If these other photographers just didn't exist, I would be rich. Everything would be easier. They are making my life more difficult.

I see competition, I have thoughts, I feel awful because my belief is that they are making my life more difficult. I had alluded to this in my reels today. I said, don't wish it were easier. Wish you had more skills.

And when you have the thought, their existence makes my life hard and I'm going to end up, you know, broke and destitute and dead in a ditch without a home or food and probably naked because I can't afford to close. Like if that's the connection your brain is making and trust me, for some of us it is. Well, no wonder these negative feelings pop up when you see them.

So what could we do to shift that?

What would you need to think or believe when you see your competition to make it more neutral? I am not asking nor suggesting that you become suddenly happy and thrilled that they're there. I'm saying if you have negative feelings when you see this, what would you need to think or believe to just feel more neutral? Maybe just feel nothing really, just more neutral about it.

They are making me look better to the right clients. That is an excellent thought. They are making me look better to the clients who want to hire me. My clients really appreciate the way I do business. They don't want those other photographers cheap, not cheap, whatever. They don't want them. I am unique. There is no competition. There is no one that has my fingerprints. There is no competition. I am unique. Yes.

As long as I keep going, I will find my clients too. I want you to really practice these thoughts and think about whatever resonates with you, write it down. So that when you, cause here's what's going to happen. You're going to see competition and it's like kind of worse if it's someone you don't like. You're like, I don't even like that person. You see them, you're going to have a negative reaction. I just want you to catch it. Take a deep breath.

and then go to your thought protocol. Let's do some ITC, intentional thought creation. Let's create a protocol for what you want to think and feel when you see competition, when you feel like they're doing all of the things for marketing, they're on Instagram, they're on Facebook, the Reels, they're killing it. And you're sitting here like, I don't even know what to say. And you're frustrated. I want you to have a protocol to turn to so that you can take a deep breath, think these thoughts on purpose and shift.

your feelings and therefore your energy. They are totally different than I am. I offer different services, different skills and different print products. You know, I'm going to add that for me, one of my things was they can't touch my personality. I have a different personality than they do. And by the way, and it's not for everybody. I know that. I know that.

but they can't touch me in terms of my personality that attracts my type of client. That is what is very unique and along with all of the different things. More competition equals more demand. My city is overflowing with people who need my services. One of my thoughts, and now keep in mind before I had all of this thought work, I was a wedding photographer trying to get clients like everyone else. And I thought to myself, okay,

the more demand, the better because I can't photograph all of the weddings in Pittsburgh every summer. Like somebody actually went to the Allegheny courthouse or on the website at one point, this was years ago, and figured out how many marriage permits or license or whatever were submitted from like May through October. And it was thousands, thousands. Like obviously not all of those people have weddings.

Not the point, I can't photograph all of them. There are enough clients for everyone. Not everyone's client is the right fit. The goal of this exercise is to notice, pay attention to what comes up for you when you see it, catch it, and have a good chuckle at your brain. ⁓ seeing competition, my brain thinks I'm gonna be dead in a ditch. That's funny, okay, because it's not true. And what do I want to think or believe

so that I feel a little bit better or a little bit more neutral. How can I cultivate my own abundance and like my own, I'm creating my own wealth, my own revenue. So it's not that they're taking, I think your brain automatically thinks they're taking from you just by existing instead of, well, they're adding to you because it's actually helping differentiate you. And in the case of pet photography specifically,

I see that as being very integral, very important to education, to the general public that you actually exist and that it's a thing. So I think that's pretty important. I want you to come up with your ITC, do some intentional thought creation, catch it, take a deep breath, have a good chuckle, and then reframe it. I try and think they look successful, but it's very possible they are struggling just like I am. It's not only possible, I think it's probable.

that they're struggling like everyone is because everyone struggles. They're just showcasing what they're doing just like you are or the rest of us are. And it just doesn't matter. So it's like, are you wasting your cognitive space, your energy on something that actually doesn't matter in the least? That doesn't have to matter. It doesn't have to impact you. Then again, it becomes funny. It's like, well, I don't wanna waste my brain power here.

I want to spend my brain power working on my own marketing and doing my own thing and serving my own clients, not worrying about how successful they are. Furthermore, and maybe lastly, how does it serve your people, your current clients, your future clients for you to be worrying about other photographers? Like if I look at my competition in the educational space, and sometimes it ruffles my feathers a little bit, it does.

I am in fact a human. wish I were a robot. I'm not. But when it does, I think to myself, this is not fair to my elevate friends for me to even be thinking about this because you're the ones here. You're present. You're working. You're paying me. It makes no sense for me to think about them at all. I should only and always be thinking about you. When I am focused on serving you my current paying best clients, I feel great.

I'm in service energy, I'm focused. I mean, I am locked in. But when I'm thinking about what these other educators are doing, I'm befuddled, I'm confused, I feel defeated, frustrated. And what does that do for what I create for you? It certainly doesn't help it. I just think that that is dishonoring you. Me focusing elsewhere is like disservice to you. And I just am not going to do it.

When I catch myself doing it, like, well, there goes my brain again. And I actually do have a roof over my head and food in my belly and I'm going to be okay. This is not a zero sum game. There is enough pie for everyone. If this episode struck a chord and you're ready to stop letting competition derail your energy and start showing up with confidence, then it's time to join us inside of Elevate.

Elevate is where mindset meets strategy. It's where you get coaching, community, and the tools you need to build a photography business that actually works for you and doesn't make you crazy. If you want to stop spinning and start making real progress, this is where it happens. The link to join us is in the show notes, and I'd love to support you on the inside. You deserve to feel empowered, equipped, and excited.

about your business. I hope that you found this useful.